Before Silius: The Creation of the Roman Hannibal

Before Silius: The Creation of the Roman Hannibal

Claire Stocks

Publisher:

Liverpool University Press

DOI:10.5949/liverpool/9781781380284.003.0003

This chapter focuses on those texts, written before SiliusItalicus’ Punica, which feature Hannibal. These texts include the (extremely) fragmentary works of Hannibal's own historians Silenus and Sosylus, as well as the works of Cicero, Cornelius Nepos, Horace, Valerius Maximus and Seneca. Special attention is paid to Polybius’ Histories, which – although written in Greek – are aimed in part at a Roman audience and contain a detailed account of the Carthaginian's life. By examining the portrayal of Hannibal in these texts, it is argued that a picture of the ‘Roman Hannibal’ emerges which shows how the Carthaginian became celebrated in Rome as much for his military acumen as for his supposed cruelty.

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